UNAIDS congratulates Zimbabwe’s parliament for repealing section 79 of the Criminal Law Code, which criminalizes HIV transmission. A new marriage bill adopted by parliament that repeals the criminal code section is to be signed into law by the president. The criminalization of HIV transmission is ineffective, discriminatory and undermines efforts to reduce new HIV infections.
Tema Mkhonta is a young leader from Eswatini and a member of the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation’s Committee of African Youth Advisors (CAYA) programme. Even though she faced stigma after learning about her HIV status when she was 15 years old, she never gave up hope and started working for a local community centre, where she now helps other young people overcome
A pioneer of the HIV response in Madagascar, Réseau Association des Femmes Samaritaines (Réseau AFSA, the Association of Samaritan Women), an association of sex workers, was created following the discovery of the first case of HIV among sex workers, in 1987. For the past three decades, it has been focusing on the empowerment and social integration of sex workers, with the
Joe Muriuki was a son of the African soil, born and raised in Kenya, a local, national and global advocate for the right of people living with HIV to access life-saving HIV treatment free from stigma and discrimination. In 1987, he became the first Kenyan and among the first of all people living with HIV in Africa to share publicly that he was living with HIV.
The hardships caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have magnified the challenges that people who use drugs face. In Uganda, during the COVID-19 lockdowns there was limited access to HIV treatment and other health services, including access to medically assisted therapy, which provides daily doses of methadone to people who use drugs. Access to support systems, such as drop-in